Healthcare Employment Numbers Showing Signs of Improvement
Healthcare employment numbers are showing slow, but steady improvement during the first half of 2009, although at a slower pace than 2008 according to friday’s release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The preliminary numbers showed an increase of 19,600 jobs from 13.606 million in June to 13.626 million in July. The average increase per month has been at an average increase of 20,000 jobs per month the first half of this year compared with an average of 30,000 jobs per month last year.
Overall, it is encouraging to see that approximately 299,000 jobs were added to the healthcare sector since July 2008. The most improved sector within the healthcare sector was ambulatory health care services with an increase of 9,600 jobs, which accounted for almost half of the total job increase. The sectors that lost ground were outpatient care centers and nursing care facilities.
